Stephen Warnock has compared Gabriel Jesus to Luis Suarez and claimed that Arsenal are a ‘completely different team’ with him in the side.
The former left-back added that Jesus is ’so physical’ and someone who allows Arsenal to progress the ball further up the pitch, as he told The Football Show on Sky Sports.
Arsenal secured the 25-year-old’s talents from Premier League champions Manchester City in the summer, as he re-united with Mikel Arteta.
There was a lot of hype around his capture and the fuel was added to the fire even further when he had a blistering pre-season.
All of that was just a glimpse of what Jesus was going to produce because, so far, he has matched the hype around him.
Former Liverpool player Warnock likes what he sees from the Brazil international and what he does so well for his team.
“They are a completely different team with Jesus in it,” said Warnock. “Now, you have a player that can run in behind and cause problems.
“What he is so good at Gabriel Jesus, and Pep Guardiola spoke about this, is his anticipation about where the ball is going to go. A player who I used to watch a lot was Luis Suarez and he was exactly the same. He always anticipated where the ball was going to go.
“How quickly he turns and stands you up. He was a constant menace to Manchester United – It’s allowing runners to go forward knowing he is going to hold the ball up. It’s progressing Arsenal up the pitch.
“If you had Lacazette up there or Aubameyang to a certain degree, I don’t think they are as physical as him. I don’t think they are willing to do that side of the game. He’s so physical in the way that he plays.”
JESUS’S TIME TO SHINE
At Manchester City, there was a plethora of attacking players Jesus was competing with and he never played a central role at the Etihad.
But all of that has now changed because he now has a central role at Arsenal and a consistent run of games.
The key thing is what Jesus can bring to the table at the end of the season when it comes to the crunch moments.
Jesus is a winner, as proven at Man City, but can he be the player that pushes Arsenal over the line when the going gets tough?
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